You are here: Home / Archives for June 2009

Serve Tossing Motion – It’s In The Shoulder

June 18, 2009 By Brent 3 Comments

My serve tossing motion used to be a mess. I was all over the map in terms of never knowing where my toss was going to actually end up.


I’d look up there and just hope the ball would be somewhere in the vicinity of where I was trying to toss.

My tossing wrist was the problem and consequently I had zero confidence in both my 1st and 2nd serves.

Those days are fortunately long gone for me…

Tom Stow really helped me with the two aspects of my toss. One of them we recently discussed and that was how to hold the ball.

The other fundamental he gave me was to “feel” the ball in my shoulder. Huh…?

That’s right, Tom wanted all of us to start the toss with our front shoulder.

And my apologies to my extremely good friend and often doubles partner Steve Cornell for referencing his tossing motion. He knows I mean well…!


Download Video or MP3

So, get out there this week and practice your toss and try to start your motion from your front shoulder allowing your tossing arm to stay straight as you move your arm up to the finish position of the toss.

Also, make sure you read my post below from yesterday…

____________________________

Ends Any Of Your Serve Problems
During Your Very First Practice Session

Brent’s “3 Magic Moves Of The Serve”
Download and/or DVD – Claim Your Copy Now
____________________________

Discover How To Get Up To A 40% Discount
On Brent’s Downloadable & DVD Lessons

____________________________
Filed Under: Tennis Tip - Serve, Tennis Tip - Serve Toss

Tennis Match Scores Can be Deceiving…

June 17, 2009 By Brent Leave a Comment

I had a good tournament last week over at the Marin Seniors, a national Super Category 2 tournament held at the Mill Valley Tennis Club.


Despite winning the tournament without losing more than 2 games per match (4 matches), I’m telling ya, every opponent was a quality player, and it forced me to concentrate (go through that 4 part between points routine) just as much as any other match I’ve played this year…

Taking an opponent for granted, assuming a certain outcome, whether it’s a match victory or worse looking forward to the next round, all of those things are the kiss of death.

And I know you’ve heard all of this stuff before ever since you were a kid. It’s common sense, but you know what, we still do it, and even if that thinking it’s just a hair subconcious, it plays havoc with our abilty to concentrate and go through the processes we need to go through to play at our highest possible level for any given match.

Here’s what I want you to do this week…

Schedule a match against a player you know you’re going to beat 10 out of 10 times.

And play that match where you force yourself to concentrate between points as if you’re up against a player who could beat you at least half of the time.

Go really into your 4 part between points routine and force your self to continue to do so even if you’re winning easily.

I’m telling you, it’s not as easy as it may sound, but the benefits for your game are enormous if you can find that emotionally controlled place in between points despite what’s happening in the match.

Once you finish that match, see if you can schedule another practice match against a player who can probably beat you 10 out of 10 times, and simply repeat that between points routine.

You really have to get comfortable with the between points routine during practice matches if you ever want it to be effective in either a league or tournament match.


____________________________

Haven’t yet claimed your copy of my
Mental Skills for Competitive Tennis Players lesson?
Get your copy now and start improving your mentals skills in the next 2 minutes!
____________________________

OK, hope this has helped…

Have a great week out there and keep moving forward!

Brent
Filed Under: Tennis Mental - Competing, Tennis Mental Skills

Michael Wayman Interview – Play Better in League/Tournament Matches Mindset – Part 1

June 8, 2009 By Brent Leave a Comment

My good friend and men’s coach at St. Mary’s College out here in northern California, Michael Wayman, and my coach for the past year or so, was kind enough to spend some time on the phone with me this morning.




You may have not heard of Michael, an outrageously good player at 55, but he knows the game of tennis as well as anyone I know.

Michael was an All-American at USC – University of Southern California (that’s right, we won’t hold that against him fellow Cal Bear fans, right…?) and he played on the men’s pro tour for 8 years.

During his playing career, Michael had singles wins over then world #5 Gene Mayer; Ille Nastase; Guillermo Vilas; and doubles wins over John McEnroe and Stan Smith.

This guy has been there, done that, and to me is a vast wealth of knowledge…

And Michael is one of those rare former top world players who has been able to articulate the game to “the rest of us” in terms that we not only can understand, but in terms that actually helps us improve our games.

And believe me, that’s not as easy as it might seem.

OK, enough of an intro for Michael and let’s get down to the 3 questions I asked Michael to discuss this morning.

Lots of players are frustrated about:
  • Being a good practice match player but play nowhere near that level in either a league or tournament match when it counts.
  • In a league or tournament match against an equal or lesser rated player, we win the first set, get up a break in the 2nd, and can’t close it out. 
  • In a league or tournament match against a higher rated player, we win the first set and can’t close it out.  
  • For the above questions I asked Michael to help us define what’s the problem, what’s the solution, and how does one practice the solution?

The interview is about 37 minutes in duration.  

MP3: You can also download the mp3 file by right clicking here and then choose “Save Target As”.

TRANSCRIPT:  You can also download the transcription PDF file by clicking here.
______________________________________

A Practical 7 Step-by-Step Tangible Guide

 “How to Develop the Must Have Mental Skills
for Competitive Tennis Players”

 Plus, Answers to Your Top 50 Specific Questions
taught by Brent Abel

Discover how to consistently play your best tennis in league, tournament, & practice matches…

Just imagine this…

So far, you’ve played this match with confidence, and after winning the first set 7-5, you’re now ahead serving at 4-2 in the 2nd set…

In the past however, you consciously sensed that the finish line was close. 

In those prior matches, you used to want the victory so badly that you almost hoped your opponent would simply just lay down and give you the rest of the match.

But instead, your opponent felt relaxed with nothing to lose, starts to play that way, and the next thing you know, they’d be serving at 6-5, and all too often you’d lose that 2nd set and eventually the 3rd set as well.

But those days are gone, a thing of the past, and instead, at 4-2 in the 2nd set, you coolly take your time, don’t consider the outcome of winning or choking the match, and simply and easily keep your mind on each individual upcoming point, hold serve at love, and then break your opponent’s serve to close out the match with a victory 7-5, 6-2.

You can make this happen…

Discover the 7 simple secrets to allow you to confidently thrive in match play.

This lesson is a 59 page no nonsense easy to follow PDF guide that will help you develop a solid confidence when you play practice, league, and tournament matches in both singles and doubles.

Stop losing those matches when you’ve won the 1st set and are up in the 2nd set only to find another way to lose in the 3rd set.

How to Play Tennis with Confidence

“The Must-Have Mental Skills for Competing, Practicing, & Improving”

PLUS, your top 50 specific questions about the mental side of tennis 
answered individually by Brent

Discover the 7 simple steps that will help you close out those matches and put you on the path to improving your tennis skill level.

Guarantee:  100% tennis player product satisfaction. 

- $37 PDF text file (immediate access)

______________________________________

Here’s My Secret Weapon – “The Stick” Massage Roller


This simple massage roller has helped me keep my legs from any serious injuries.

It fits neatly into my tennis bag, isn’t heavy, and I can massage roll my leg muscles (calves, hamstrings, quads) and IT band for a few minutes 2-3 times a day and get a ton of stretch.

Pick up your “Stick” today and get rid of those nagging leg pains, prevent future injuries, and have your legs feeling like a kid’s again!

Filed Under: Tennis Mental - Competing, Tennis Mental Skills, Tennis Pro - Michael Wayman
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »